Roadrunner Lake Resort

Just outside of Scottsdale, Arizona, lies this totally bizarre little patch of buildings. Sitting isolated out in the desert, these structures are packed into perfectly regular square… and as far as I can see, for absolutely no good reason – there’s loads of space!

Switching on map mode reveals that this is Roadrunner Lake Resort, which makes me wonder, where’s the lake? Anyway, it seems that this is a retirement community, so I guess all the wrinklies have been packed off into the desert… presumably so they won’t bother their children too much with all that ‘being alive’ stuff.

If you scroll one screen down and one screen left you’ll see more of the same. Keep looking around the area and you’ll see normal houses packed in like saurdines. The square area appears to be a good example of maximizing the use of 40 acres.

Jon, this is a brilliant example of sprawl. In four or five years it’ll be surrounded by more of the same. There’s only a few acres between this development and a whole swath of vast, lifeless suburbs. Remind me never to live in Scottsdale. Or Phoenix, for that matter.

This is definately NOT an example of impending sprawl, much less a briliant one. This trailer park was established 30 years ago and it isn’t likely to have many new neighbors. It sits on the land of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, which is largely a farming community. With a few exceptions, the Indians in the Phoenix area traditionally have not sold land to developers. The exceptions that I know about are on the fringes of the reservations, usually for shopping malls and freeways to serve the existing population that borders the reservations.
Only a reckless gambler would put money on the surrounding land not being cotton, alfalfa or corn farms for the decades to come.

Way too may miniature humans there! When I was in High School we would go to Saquaro Lake north of the valley to escape the summer heat. Everyone would gather on the river south of the dam and float down in tubes or jump off the steep cliffs. View Placemark / Google Earth

Contrasting opinions withstanding, I still call this sprawl. Trailer parks are the products of suburban sprawl–the “sprawl of sprawl,” if you will. This place would not exist if not for the thousands of acres of suburbs, Wal-Marts, Best Buys and strip malls that are a mere five-minute drive away. Maybe “resort”, maybe “community”, maybe “isolated”, but certainly not smart development.

I think the problem with these areas are there’s SO MUCH land. Nothing to stop these developers. Check this out:

Phoenix sprawl provides a similar picture [to San Jose]: while its population grew 132% from 1970 to 1990, its urbanized area grew by a similarly significant 91%. Of course, Phoenix has a lot of catching up to do in the growth management realm: From 1950 to 1970, while its population grew 300%, its urbanized area grew by an incredible 630%.
(US Census Bureau, sierraclub.org)

Geez … sprawl is such a dirty word! And of course you have to throw in that evil WalMart for the cause of all our evils. In this country we have the right to own land and develop it as we like (within reason and government codes and zoning). What’s the alternative – let government decide where we can live? If that’s what you like then go in a time machine back to the USSR and live under communist rule. Otherwise don’t complain about where people choose to live, especially when they are spending their own hard-earned money.

Here is one possible reason for the strange layout of the structure:
Senior living places are sometimes set up so that people do not get lost while walking. For example, someone with Alzheimer’s or other issues with memory can walk around without wandering too far out of safety.

I’m certainly no Communist, and I find deep problems with communistic systems. In fact, I completely agree with you. We must develop, as you said in your own words, “within reason and government codes and zoning.” Smart planning and zoning will lead to smart development. I’m still waiting. But sprawling suburbs are certainly not smart. And neither are clustered and cramped housing projects, either. There’s a happy medium somewhere but it’ll be hard to attain, if not impossible. What we must realize is that outlandish sprawling development is a bad idea–it uses far too many resources (economic, energy, natural) in addition to being taxing on the human psyche. There’s lots of problems, and it’ll be hard to find this so-called “happy medium”, but I’m certainly not promoting some sort of leftist or communist philosophy. There’s no denying that there’s some deeply-rooted problems with suburbanization, and thankfully the upcoming generation of urban developers seems to realize this. We’ll see what they come up with….

Geoff,
you don’t own a house. how would you know about the economy of sprawl. go ahead and sit in your studio apartment and condenm the masses. when you invest in a house and become apart of society, then we’ll see your view on sprawl.

Re. peter vs geoff and sprawl
I have never poked myself in the eye with a sharp stick but i know its really gonna hurt…..!
Is there a similiar law to Godwins that involves calling someone a communist and saying stuff like “…if you like it so much why dont you go and live there”. McCarthy’s Law i suppose

No good reason? It’s called zoning, moron. And God forbid that hardworking people should be able after 50 years and sweat and toil to claim a little piece of retirement and relaxation in their golden years with other good people. You won’t know that sensation, I’m relatively sure, as your kind of condescention usually results in people like you spending their “wrinklie” years alone. Asshole.

What are you people crying about!
I wish I had a place there instead of looking out at the snowbanks here and -10 outside.
Want to see what it really looks like? go to Google Earth Search and Zoom in, then go anywhere along the 49th and compare!

It’s a pretty cool place when you want to goof off for a couple month’s in the winter, it’s not for the faint of heart, oh yeah, you have to be 55 or older.
Also has a casino 1/2 a mile down the road….

Welcome to Google Sightseeing

Google Sightseeing takes you on a tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Our team of authors present weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

Could you be one of our authors? We're looking for more freelance writers - please get in touch for more information.

Google Street View may be ever-expanding in its reach, but it’s still a long way from covering the entire world. There are numerous services that not only offer their own street-level imagery but have beaten Google to the punch in numerous cities around the globe. That got us wondering just what we’re missing from other sites over here at Google Sightseeing, so join us as we take a two-part tour of street-level imagery in places Street View hasn’t reached yet!

Known as site of one of the most pivotal naval battles in history, today Midway Atoll strikes an odd balance between its military past and its tropical paradise locale. It’s also one of the most remote places ever visited by Google Street View.

Translations

Copyright Statement

Comments are owned by whoever posted them and we are not responsible for their content. Privacy policy.

Google is a trademark of Google Inc. who are neither associated with this website nor endorse it in any way. Other names of companies and products mentioned on this website may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Thumbnail images are copyright Google and other companies, visit Google for full legal notices.